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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jul 15, 2023 3:17:33 GMT -8
Markpd , you're right, that should definitely be in there. I overlooked that bit. What do we think is a reasonable amount of fruit and veg to recommend? I think it can be highly variable. I feed mine much more than most do, but I also know a pair of gerbils who have never or at least very rarely had fresh food during their 2.5 years of life but appear perfectly healthy. I'm interested to hear everyone else's opinions. I've just stumbled across this and wondered if we sorted this out? I had a quick look at the list and couldn't see anything about fruit and veg quantity, unless I simply missed it? I think I've avoided that question mainly because this is more of a "what can I feed" article rather than a "how/how much should I feed" one (I keep thinking I should write something along those lines though). And also because there's no clear answer on how much fruit and veg to feed. People have many different opinions. |
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Post by Markpd on Jul 15, 2023 4:07:35 GMT -8
Fair enough, and true!
I've wondered though, assuming gerbils had easy access to both wet and dry food, wouldn't gerbils instinctively stop eating wet foods before they ate too much? (from an excess water point of view).
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jul 15, 2023 6:14:55 GMT -8
Fair enough, and true! I've wondered though, assuming gerbils had easy access to both wet and dry food, wouldn't gerbils instinctively stop eating wet foods before they ate too much? (from an excess water point of view). I would assume so as I know mine will often drop a piece of fresh food when they've had enough even if it's something they really like. They also tend to drink less when they're given more fresh food. |
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Post by betty on Jul 15, 2023 8:55:33 GMT -8
I'd agree. There is a certain amount of 'that's enough' for a sitting.
Maybe it is more a question of overall consumed percentages then? If you are allowing a sort of free-range style amount of daily fruit and veg, perhaps the amount of moisture vs reduced nutrients or fibre is the imbalance that causes upset tummies - not simply just the increased moisture alone.
Just thinking along the lines of some other species - it is now known that you need to reduce the volume of fresh foods given to ginty pigs and rabbits quite harshly so that they HAVE to chew on fibrous grasses and plants - otherwise their gut speed is reduced enough to make them ill. Additionally the grass wears down their teeth with constant chewing and helps prevent dental overgrowth as a bonus.
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Post by Markpd on Jul 15, 2023 8:58:11 GMT -8
Interesting, and good to know!  |
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Post by Markpd on Aug 30, 2023 12:15:45 GMT -8
Anyone know if plants from the Geranium family are harmful?
I'm wondering about this as a side issue to the wild garden box I've discussed.
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Post by TJ's Rodent Ranch on Aug 30, 2023 12:19:05 GMT -8
Hmm, I would guess not. I'm not exactly sure, but I know for several other animals it's not safe. Rather be safe than sorry  |
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Aug 30, 2023 12:39:28 GMT -8
I don't know about geraniums offhand, but this page suggests that geraniums themselves are not toxic but pelargoniums (commonly called geraniums) are. |
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Post by betty on Sept 1, 2023 22:09:57 GMT -8
Neither geranium or cranesbill are in my human wild-plant edibles book, so I have never given them to my little ones, but that isn't to say that certain parts of the plants aren't safe.
However, I can't find my rabbit foraging book right now as I am sure they must come across wild geranium growing in larger or more rural gardens, just wanted to see what it said about that... I'll have a look after work if I can locate it.
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Post by Markpd on Sept 3, 2023 5:05:41 GMT -8
Interesting, gardeners world and woodlandtrust say that Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum) is edible, although they don't state their source on that. Although wildflower.web states that "However, it is considered toxic if consumed in large amounts and should be handled with care", I think the latter point is rather over dramatic (assuming you're not allergic to it), I've pulled it plenty of times* without even a hint of skin irritation. * I do usually keep them as I like their flowers  Oh btw, I've seen it mentioned several times that rabbits like to eat these (although of course that doesn't mean Gerbils can). This study on rats investigating herb roberts properties for helping type 2 diabetes fed them decoctions of it for 4 weeks, so presumably not poisoning them, and it helped with plasma glucose levels! |
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Post by Markpd on Apr 2, 2024 12:02:35 GMT -8
betty did you find your book? And here's another one I've wondered about, Hawksbeard, this seems to be related to Dandelion (and looks quite similar to it), so I would imagine it would be ok to feed them to gerbils? But I don't know for sure, does anyone else?
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Post by betty on Apr 2, 2024 12:14:54 GMT -8
No, I haven't found it yet? Strange - maybe I need to buy another?
My Food for Free book doesn't have 'Hawksbeard' in it - what is that latin name?
It has 'rough hawkbit' (Leontodon hispidus) and 'goats-beard' (Tragopodon pratensis) though.
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Post by Markpd on Apr 17, 2024 13:48:30 GMT -8
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Post by julz6852 on Jul 10, 2024 4:14:44 GMT -8
Heya,
This list looks great! I hope you don't mind, but I have printed it out for quick reference.
Many thanks.
Julz xx
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Post by Markpd on Oct 15, 2024 11:57:50 GMT -8
betty did you find anything out about Hawksbeard? (latin name in my previous post). LilyandDaisy I'm confused by the following sentence (I've just been re-reading parts of the guide ) :- "Assuming a rat eats 10g food per day, this equates to 200mg/day caffeic acid, which is equivalent to approximately 30g dandelions per day.25" I thought we'd already discussed this, but I couldn't find a conversation relating to this sentence. Anyway is the 200mg/day figure relating to how much caffeic acid they were fed in the study, which equates to ~30g dandelions? Or if they ate 10g/day of dandelions? The way it reads atm is that both 10g/day (food) and 30g/day (dandelions) give 200mg/day caffeic acid, which clearly can't be the case!
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), late 70s
